Portugal. The Man Vinyl Artwork

So I pre-ordered the Censored Colors Vinyl by Portugal the Man. For $30 I got the Vinyl and a T-Shirt. Portugal the Man is a band that definitely puts a lot of work into their records and in the studio, you can really hear all the work they put into the songs on the record. And although I prefer the sound of Vinyl over CD,Mp3 and Tape I am a bit selective on the records I buy on Vinyl. I like having a small collection of records that I really love since A. they take up a lot of space and I also like being able to get around to listening to my favorite records more often. 

I also have the past albums of Portugal the Man on Vinyl and knew they always had cool album artwork. The waiters Vinyl is clear with black splattered paint,I knew I had to pre order the Vinyl when It came out, I think I made the right choice.

They even came with a cut out Gorilla mask and Wheat paste, Wheat Paste Directions, and oh yeah it came with a free download of the album, The whole un-opening experience  felt a little bit like Christmas.

Check em' Out!

lui & lei

all together now!

lei

Hey peeps I just finished the female version of the color progression series (lei) This is the first piece that is completely in acrylic. I was getting annoying patches of darker color where the layers overlapped when using an Oil based paint marker, the two paintings next to each other look pretty cool since the color stripes match up. 

The two paintings are my interpretation of the balance of a relationship.

lui

This is a piece I did on computer a couple of weeks ago and decided would look cool as a painting. It's on 30x40 Canvas and done with Acrylic and Paint Marker. I think I am going to try and do a couple others in the same style but with different colors. 

Hallowedding

So I just got back from Long Island for my brothers Hallowedding. Since they met around Halloween they figured to celebrate the holiday and their anniversary by having a Costume Ball. I saw friends and relatives dressed as characters from the Beverly Hillbilllies, Robin Hood Men In Tights, the event was filled with plenty of Celebrities including Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Mary Kate Olsen, Angelina Jolie and all her kids, and 80's Rockstar Pal Joey.

For more pictures of the Party: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristinamgibb/sets/72157605634562708/

Pal Joey Guitar

For my brothers wedding he is having a Costume Ball theme. The Hallowedding will be plenty of friends and relatives and Im sure will be filled with plenty of Celebrities and Movie Stars. 

I decided I would go as my dad Pal Joey, he had no idea what I was going to be and seemed a bit shocked to be approached by his son at a party dressed as him 25 years ago, I guess I would have been too.

Broken Umbrellas

So its a freeezzing rainy crappy New York Day, I walked around my neighborhood earlier to get something to eat and took a new photo of a broken Umbrella. I have been taking pictures of broken umbrellas for a while now and always wanted to make a book or some kind of series of large photo prints. There is something sad about an Umbrella, you buy one when its raining for $3 it breaks at the end of the day, or if your lucky it lasts 2 or 3 rain days then you drop it and leave it or throw it out. At the end of a rainy day in New York you can find at-least 2 broken Umbrellas on any given Block. Here are just a few of the most recent

Bad to the Bone

The other day I was playing around with ideas for a new symbol or brand mark for me. I thought of my most distinct traits and tried to simplify them as much as I could. It came down to my hair and sideburns and realized that using that as a symbol would be kind of silly. I then got into the spirit of halloween and finished off the rest of my face with the skull teeth and nose and the colors I pulled from my website palette but definitely added to the Halloween vibe, (thanks lo).

I am going to do this 30"x40" and maybe do a series of these in different colors to replace the painting pixels series. I will post when I get started... Halloween pictures also coming soon

Silence Is Golden

 I wanted to make an outside box for a candle that would diffuse the light better than the basic candle holder. I decided to use golden paper that I  had found at Paper Presentations. I went along with the gold theme and cut the word "Silence" out of it from the adage "Silence is Golden" it is more like Silence is glowing but the outside paper provides the gold.

Can you guess the Typeface?

Scubanaut

Scubanaut

30"x 40" Ink On Canvas

Pssst.. you see the face profile?

Better pictures coming Soon

Scubanaut Concept

Hey This is my next concept for a painting,

I completely support NASA and money put towards exploring the unexplored, but do you ever wonder how many species and unidentified creatures that have yet to have been discovered here on Earth? 

Over 70% of the earth is water and much of it is unexplored.

Who knows what can be living miles below us, and I bet we have a much better chance of finding ET down there too.

Computer Sketches

Hey,

Just been playing with some sketches on the computer that I will end up painting. not sure if I should keep it all in halftone like the others or go more in these directions, just playing with ideas.

The hairline is courtesy of my friend Lauren Aka LoLo

and inspiration from underoath

-Csal

the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops

Raindown

30"x40" Paint on Canvas

To me their is nothing quite like listening to music in headphones under an umbrella while it's pouring. This was my inspiration to my latest piece Raindown.

It's been a little while since I have added to the painting pixels series but I had doubts on the sketching stages of this piece and kinda put it on the back burner. It photographed really well and looks great on a wall, I am pretty happy I didnt bail on this piece and I ended up sticking it out.

Vinyl 1 - CD - 0

So another win for Vinyl records!

I picked up Coldplays X&Y Vinyl from Virgin the other day and was blown away.

The artwork is so simple and bright this definitley goes on the long list of things I wish I had done. The poster has the alphabet chart of what the shapes actually mean and the otherside has the front cover blown out big.

On a side note this is the first time I have ever seen a CROWD at the vinyl section in a non record specific store. The  small niche of  Vinyl believer's seems to be growing, more bands are releasing Vinyl and more stores are carrying them and I could'nt be happier about it.

IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?

So I was in Staples the other day looking to get paint markers and a magazine holder, They had neither but they do have an aisle dedicated to "Office Snacks" and assorted collection of DVD's to rent.

Dear Staples,

Please stick to what your good at and actually carry the stuff you are supposed to, leave the snacks to Duane Reade and Gristedes and the movie renting to Itunes and Netflix.

Thanks,

Your Friend Chris

thoughts?

Mom's Papers

So As I wrote in an earlier post, my Mom has picked up her paintbrush where she had left it.

This has led her to numerous Art shows, commissioned paintings and now the front cover of Dans Paper! (www.danshamptons.com)

My Friend Kelly Merritt who I met in one of my many Art classes Senior year at Bellport Highschool is the Art Director over at Dans. Kelly saw one of my mom's paintings and wanted to see more for the possibility of being in the Paper. The Painting she chose is in my hometown of Bellport Village. It is what used to be called the Chowder House and Is now called Porters.

All I can think about when seeing that place is being one of the first bands to play there. We played a 45 minute set to a bunch of our Highschool Teachers and got 3 noise complaints not too shabby.

The Paper is a weekly community newspaper for Long Island/Hamptons residents. More than 57,000 copies are distributed to the Hamptons,Shelter Island,Montauk, the North Fork,Port Jefferson,Stony Brook,Setauket and select neighborhoods in Manhattan and it is published every Friday.

The Paper is officially out Tomorrow September 5th. Congrats Mommalooch!

Checkout more of her work on her Website www.JeanneSalucciArt.com

Still Searching

So I have been design freelancing/working on personal projects for the last 3 or 4 months now and enjoy it when it is busy but it can and does get super slow.

Their are only so many friends or friends of friends that need logo or design work done. I would definitley like to freelance or start my own company down the line (who wouldnt) but I have been looking back into full time postitions at a design firm. 

I just interviewed at Orange32 out on Long Island specializing in a little bit of everything with a lot of high end printing (you should see their fancy business cards) I am looking at other places in the city as well, so we will see how the adjustment back to the 9-5 goes. I definitley feel a lot more confident as a designer though. I feel my Portfolio is on a higher level then it was, my business cards and self promotion have matured and my website (chrissalucci.com) has helped me grab much more attention from clients and firms.

I am heading in the right direction I just am hoping the perfect job will just come along but maybe that's further down the line.

What do you think it cost to get this image placed at the beginning of a movie? :)

Radiohead,Vinyl,Greatest Hits and a bit of Rambling

To all you Vinyl and Radiohead Fans out there today should feel like Christmas. Capitol records decided to re release most of Radioheads albums under the name "From the Capitol Vaults". The records are all remastered on heavy weight vinyl and they come out today! 

I got my hands on The Bends a couple of years ago I had to specially order Ok Computer from the UK  and I bought In Rainbows the day it came out. That left me with a large hole in my collection. I found Pablo Honey at Virgin Records Yesterday and am looking forward to hearing Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail to the Thief remastered. To those who are skeptical on a difference in sound, I dare ya, actually I triple dog dare you to listen to any album (especially Radioheads) on Vinyl and I guarantee you hear guitar parts and vocal harmonies you never heard before, even on songs you've heard a million times.

I haven't read much on the re-release of these albums and I know Coldplay's albums are getting the same treatment but I cant help to think that this has something to do with the fact that Radiohead is no longer on Capitol. It just seems like Capital is trying to make as much money off of Radiohead in as little time as possible.

Capitol recently released a greatest hits record of Radiohead's music that the band was against being put out. I am sure the band is making a buttload (lots and lots) of money from all of this but Radiohead isnt a band that tries to crank out "Hits" they are one of the few bands out there who still make concept albums that have a flow from start to finish, so you can understand why a greatest hits album wouldn't be part of their plan. 

Greatest hits albums have also always confused me especially for bands that are still touring heavily and putting out great records, are you trying to say you wont have anymore "hits"?  at least 311 titled their Greatest Hits album "Greatest Hits 93-03" letting everyone know they are far from being done as a group.

The Beatles released a Greatest Hits album 8 years ago which was about 30 years after their last release,But maybe thats a bad example considering just about any one of there albums is a Greatest Hits album. 

I could ramble on all day about why I can't wait to hear these albums on Vinyl. Ok Computer is one of my favorite albums of all times and I must have listened to it from start to finish over 500 times since first receiving it from my brother in 9th grade. I know my copies got pretty abused and scratched up so I am on what must be my 3rd copy of Ok Computer. There is also something refreshing about having your favorite piece of music on a thick piece of molded Goo and not having to worry about hairline scratches that can completely destroy your favorite CD. Luckily now the CD just has to last long enough to get into your computer and hopefully onto a stable enough hard drive to be able to pass on down to future generations. I cant even wrap my head around the fact that Parents will be passing down Harddrives full of music to their kids or they will have to repurchase the record on itunes or (whatever is popular then). Arent they going to miss the smell of a Vinyl record?, or The Awesome Artwork,the wear and tare or any real physical interaction with the Album?.

My mom told me a story about when she was growing up her and a bunch of her friends would ride their bikes down to the local record store.One of them would buy the album or they would all scrounge up their money to buy a record. They would all go to one of her friends house's surround themselves around the record player and pass the Album in a circle, dissecting it and reading along with the lyrics. What Happened to that? 

It might be the same thing that happened to screaming and crying fans, fans that couldn't control themselves during a Beatles or Elvis Presley concert and physically threw them at the members in the group. I would have hated to have been a Security guard to any one of those shows. Those fans probably knew more about those band members then they knew about their own best friends and to think, now they are our parents. What Im trying to say is that the majority of people are not as attached to albums as they once were and I think that the loss of the Vinyl record is a large part of that. 

Our physical interaction to album artwork was cut in half by the CD and was completely destroyed by the MP3. The physical interaction of a record plays a huge part in your first impression of the band or the album and how you may interpret that particular album. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the artwork but now it barely exists. This is all another thing that Radiohead has a grasp of, every one of there albums has all new artwork as well as hidden artwork , prints of the Artwork and music videos that are DIFFERENT.

Music today just seems so disposable, everyone is looking for the next best thing, while great records are collecting dust.

.......Sorry to rant but doesn't it just bum you out?

I will just finish by saying:  

When first listening to Ok Computer on Vinyl in Headphones I felt like I was hearing the album for the first time, their was so much I had missed in the compressed recordings I have heard for so long on CD's. If you are at all interested what I am saying Checkout The posted Video, This man know's what I'm Talking about: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmHLETTEfx4

Weezer

So In my last post I mentioned winning $50 from the Washers Tournament. I decided since I won the money in an interesting way I figured I should spend it in a similar fashion.

I decided to go into Petco to browse and came out with a Baby Leopard Gecko I named Weezer.  He is a lot of fun, and like me hates being woken up, he could sleep all day if he didn't have to wake up to eat crickets. When he is awake though he likes to tan under his heat lamp and sit poolside in his penthouse grado.He has a Treehouse styled suite that overlooks the Papertowel covered landscape and artificial rock/batcave. The artificial vines also add for decent exercise and an entrance to the lookout made out of cardboard and hotglue. All of this set in the breathtaking surroundings of a desert scene paneled on 4 pieces of cardstock printed on a crappy epson printer... sounds like paradise doesnt it! 

Hey ...it looked better then where they had him at Petco, I even bet if I brought him back he would be all cocky and braggy.

Washers Tournament

So every year for the last 3 Years I have gone to New Jersey with some friends for the annual Washers tournament. The easiest way to sum up washers is calling it the Poor Man's Horseshoes but it is so much more then that. It requires a Team of two people and six 1/5"wide industrial sized washers that you try and get into a large 5" wide Tomato Soup Can the first team that reaches 21 wins,The rest of the scoring can be shown above.

Along with the washers of course there is a Keg and often a lot of time in between games. The last 2 years I have started out playing Washers pretty seriously and then got too drunk to focus on the game or getting a metal thing into a blurry soup can. But this year I came home Victorious! Me and my Body building friend Brian (Jebus) were appropriately named JUMBO SHRIMP and used our size difference to our advantage.

Jebus rocked his pristine Wifebeater/Man Bra and flexed in between shots to distract our opponents as I used my low center of Gravity to get the perfect arc in my shot. Between the two of us we were an unstoppable force ending with 5 Wins and 1 Loss and beating out 25 teams.

I was just so into the tournament and pumped to win that I forgot that the winner got $50 aka Weezer (Which will be explained in the next post) and 3 Golden Washers which I made a Stand for shown above.

And to all those who are wondering..Yes Jumbo Shrimp will most definitely be back next year to Reclaim the throne of Washers Champions 

XRAY-MBO

Hey people, 

I played with some colors and some cool large XRay photos I stumbled across. Something about looking at your own human bones really puts you in your place. Looking at objects that make us who we are but are rarely observed, bones and muscles that we just expect to work but don't really question how they do. Makes you wonder how well you really do know yourself.

These are all Large Wallpapers (1920 x 1200) I just put them on my computer and they look pretty awesome I set it to randomly change photos every minute.